Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
Best car wax for BMW Mineral White Metallic Paint?
I get e-mails, PM's and FB messages all the time with questions that are better asked and then answered on this forum for a host of reason. One reason is more eyeballs see the questions and answers so more people are helped versus one set of eyeballs in an e-mail, PM or FB message.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Mike,
im looking for to enhance the "pearl" effect on my BMW Mineralwhite Metallic paint, i really need expert advice from you.
i picked the car up last saturday from BMW.
thats what i did so far:
0) i think it has alrdy been polished paint is very smooth.
1) i did carwash via Meg Gold Glass
2) i did one layer of Meg M16 Mirror Glaze Prof. past wax.
i attached you pictures of the car how it is right now (waxed 3 days before, no car wash after).
i think the color after waxing it is now brighter and its now like mirror, its enormous.
now im very worried that it hides the "Pearlish" effect of the paint (see google pictures for mineralwhite).
example swissvax told me i should us their "Glacier" wax for my car.
what do you think how i can enhance the "pearl effect"?
regards
Pascal from Switzerland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Pascal,
Thank for for e-mailing me with your questions. A couple of comments....
M16 is a long lasting, old school hard wax. It creates a lot of gloss on properly prepared paint. It came out in 1951 shortly after Frank Meguiar passed away as he did not believe in applying anything to paint that wasn't good for the paint and this included waxes. Instead he believed in applying pure polishes like #7. Problem with this approach when it came to single stage paints, (all they had in his lifetime), was you had to do it often. #7 is water soluble so applying a coat of wax over it, (wax is not water soluble), extended the time period between regular waxing. Something we all like today.
Back in those days is you used Meguiar's to polish your car's paint afterwards you would have to use Simonize or Blue Coral to seal the paint because Meguiar's didn't offer a pure wax. After Frank Meguiar's passed away the company immediately introduced M16. My guess was to keep their customer base happy and offer a more complete line.
Anyway that's the nutshell story behind M16 Professional Paste Wax.
I used it religiously for 10 years back when I detailed full time and I layered it over an application of M20 Polymer Sealant after machine buffing out a car. I was layering before layering was a term.
While I think M16 is still a great product, (heck I have 4 cases of it under my desk and recently gave Nick 2 cans), I think there are better products for what you're trying to accomplish.
I've never used any Swissvax products so I cannot comment on how well they would work for your car's paint.
I do have two articles that I think you should read. In this first article the before and after pictures of the metallic flake are simply amazing. And I hope you'll find the article eye-opening.
Making the Metallic Flake Pop! - Popping versus Muting
In this second article, I show the easiest paint coating on the market to use today and I show it on white paint. Since your goal is to showcase the pearl paint then you want to do two things,
1. Make the paint as defect free as possible.
2. Use a product that will create a clear, glassy look.
Cleaned & Coated in 3 Hours - 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
On Autogeek.com
Since you say the paint is already polished and smooth to the touch you'll still need these,
Detailer's Paint Coating Prep
Detailer's Paint Coating
Lake Country Coating Applicator - 2 Pack
Black Nitrile Gloves
Super Soft Deluxe Green Microfiber Towels with Rolled Edges - 6 Pack
Then get a bottle of this to maintain the finish.....
Black Label Diamond Coating Detailer
You will love the results and how easy these products are to use and that's the key to finding products you'll use often.
Personal recomendation...
For all the compounding, polishing and future application and removal of the Pinnacle Crystal Mist Detail Spray you really need at least a dozen high quality microfiber towels like the Gold Plus Jr. microfiber towels.
Take my word for it these are nice towels and we go through a LOT of them for projects like these and to take care of just one car for a project like these a dozen would be the minimum amount. If you want to be stocked up so you never run out of clean towels in the middle of the project then get 2 dozen.
The other benefit is you only want to wash like towels with like towels, with a dozen or two it makes it practical to run your towels through either a small or medium size wash load all by themselves. Treat your high quality towels like any of your prized tool by taking care of them and in return they will take care of your car's finish.
Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towels 12 Pack
I get e-mails, PM's and FB messages all the time with questions that are better asked and then answered on this forum for a host of reason. One reason is more eyeballs see the questions and answers so more people are helped versus one set of eyeballs in an e-mail, PM or FB message.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Mike,
im looking for to enhance the "pearl" effect on my BMW Mineralwhite Metallic paint, i really need expert advice from you.
i picked the car up last saturday from BMW.
thats what i did so far:
0) i think it has alrdy been polished paint is very smooth.
1) i did carwash via Meg Gold Glass
2) i did one layer of Meg M16 Mirror Glaze Prof. past wax.
i attached you pictures of the car how it is right now (waxed 3 days before, no car wash after).
i think the color after waxing it is now brighter and its now like mirror, its enormous.
now im very worried that it hides the "Pearlish" effect of the paint (see google pictures for mineralwhite).
example swissvax told me i should us their "Glacier" wax for my car.
what do you think how i can enhance the "pearl effect"?
regards
Pascal from Switzerland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Pascal,
Thank for for e-mailing me with your questions. A couple of comments....
M16 is a long lasting, old school hard wax. It creates a lot of gloss on properly prepared paint. It came out in 1951 shortly after Frank Meguiar passed away as he did not believe in applying anything to paint that wasn't good for the paint and this included waxes. Instead he believed in applying pure polishes like #7. Problem with this approach when it came to single stage paints, (all they had in his lifetime), was you had to do it often. #7 is water soluble so applying a coat of wax over it, (wax is not water soluble), extended the time period between regular waxing. Something we all like today.
Back in those days is you used Meguiar's to polish your car's paint afterwards you would have to use Simonize or Blue Coral to seal the paint because Meguiar's didn't offer a pure wax. After Frank Meguiar's passed away the company immediately introduced M16. My guess was to keep their customer base happy and offer a more complete line.
Anyway that's the nutshell story behind M16 Professional Paste Wax.
I used it religiously for 10 years back when I detailed full time and I layered it over an application of M20 Polymer Sealant after machine buffing out a car. I was layering before layering was a term.
While I think M16 is still a great product, (heck I have 4 cases of it under my desk and recently gave Nick 2 cans), I think there are better products for what you're trying to accomplish.
I've never used any Swissvax products so I cannot comment on how well they would work for your car's paint.
I do have two articles that I think you should read. In this first article the before and after pictures of the metallic flake are simply amazing. And I hope you'll find the article eye-opening.
Making the Metallic Flake Pop! - Popping versus Muting
In this second article, I show the easiest paint coating on the market to use today and I show it on white paint. Since your goal is to showcase the pearl paint then you want to do two things,
1. Make the paint as defect free as possible.
2. Use a product that will create a clear, glassy look.
Cleaned & Coated in 3 Hours - 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
On Autogeek.com
Since you say the paint is already polished and smooth to the touch you'll still need these,
Detailer's Paint Coating Prep
Detailer's Paint Coating
Lake Country Coating Applicator - 2 Pack
Black Nitrile Gloves
Super Soft Deluxe Green Microfiber Towels with Rolled Edges - 6 Pack
Then get a bottle of this to maintain the finish.....
Black Label Diamond Coating Detailer
You will love the results and how easy these products are to use and that's the key to finding products you'll use often.
Personal recomendation...
For all the compounding, polishing and future application and removal of the Pinnacle Crystal Mist Detail Spray you really need at least a dozen high quality microfiber towels like the Gold Plus Jr. microfiber towels.
Take my word for it these are nice towels and we go through a LOT of them for projects like these and to take care of just one car for a project like these a dozen would be the minimum amount. If you want to be stocked up so you never run out of clean towels in the middle of the project then get 2 dozen.
The other benefit is you only want to wash like towels with like towels, with a dozen or two it makes it practical to run your towels through either a small or medium size wash load all by themselves. Treat your high quality towels like any of your prized tool by taking care of them and in return they will take care of your car's finish.
Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towels 12 Pack
